Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys New Position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RDA Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Alliant Energy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 7,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Alliant Energy by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Alliant Energy by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LNT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Alliant Energy from $66.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank cut Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Alliant Energy in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.25.

Alliant Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $64.53 on Friday. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $46.80 and a 1 year high of $64.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $59.94 and its 200-day moving average is $59.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.60.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Alliant Energy had a net margin of 17.33% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $976.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Alliant Energy’s payout ratio is currently 75.46%.

Alliant Energy Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.